Apple issued an official welcome to Beats Music and Beats Electronics, indicating that the acquisition, announced in May, is now finalized. “Music has always held a special place in our hearts, and we’re thrilled to join forces with a group of people who love it as much as we do,” the statement on Apple’s website read. Continue Reading
RAIN founding editor Kurt Hanson is reporting from Tokyo, where he is surveying the tech, culture, and audio landscapes. This is his fourth report. iPhones are popular in Tokyo, but there is a peculiar exception. Continue Reading
This week National Public radio released the brand new NPR One mobile app, which site side-by-side with the previously launched NPR News app. The first was a reinvention of the NPR listening experience. The new app reinvents that, with simplicity and style. RAIN reviews. Continue Reading
Samsung has added a paid tier to its Milk Music streaming service. The new Milk Premium plan costs $3.99 a month and gives its members offline listening and unlimited song skips. It will also let you turn off the commentary from station DJs and pause the app automatically with the Sleep Timer feature. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Rhapsody exec says labels gave YouTube too much power; Journal and Scripps merge; Lyric sites sued by NMPA. Continue Reading
Music rights organization BMI has entered a partnership with iBiquity, the developer of HD Radio. The two parties will launch a new program called the HD Radio Artist Spotlight, which is intended to help promote new artists and support established ones on tour. The spotlight’s launch will focus on five of BMI’s country music acts. Continue Reading
As part of its acquisition, Apple has allegedly let go of some Beats employees who were in redundant roles. Reports suggested that Beats Electronics would lose 200 jobs, although the impact on the streaming side of the business, Beats Music, was not clear. Apple’s rep later gave clarification about the rumored job cuts. Continue Reading
After 17 years at Warner Music Group, Stephen Bryan has been appointed the new senior vice president of business development and strategy for SoundCloud. “I’ve always felt a deep passion to navigate this incredible transition to digital platforms,” he said. “I think that change will accelerate in the near future, and a company like SoundCloud enables me to continue that.” He enters a company undergoing growth, and growing pains. Continue Reading
On Monday we reported a possible sale of Swell Radio to Apple for $30-million dollars, citing unnamed sources talking to Re/code. That rumor has been substantiated now by thoday’s shutdown of the Swell site. The iOS app fails to connect to Swell servers, except for a brief audio message thanking listeners for using Swell. Continue Reading
Internet radio service Radionomy announced today that its platform of independent stations have been added to Sonos, the wireless speaker system. Sonos represents an important new distribution angle for Radionomy, and is also a win for Radionomy’s station owners, and Sonos users. Continue Reading
Ryan Farish is an electronic-music composer and producer, a pioneer of the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) genre which is surging in popularity, and a Grammy-nominated songwriter. He coined the defining sub-genre of his music as Positive Chillout, a category now in use by other musicians.
Farish will be featured onstage at RAIN Summit Indy, September 9 in Indianapolis, in a panel titled “EDM: Streaming a New Path to Success.” In anticipation, RAIN spoke with Ryan Farish by phone, asking about how his star career unfolded without the traditional leverage of broadcast radio or a major-label deal. Continue Reading
RAIN founding editor Kurt Hanson reports from Tokyo, where he surveyed the tech, culture, and audio landscapes. This is his third illustrated report — including beer gardens, one-price menus, and their business implications. Continue Reading